Ontario Sets Tough Penalties for Deadly Driving

Summary#

Bill 47, the Fairness for Road Users Act (Contraventions Causing Death or Serious Bodily Harm), 2025, would amend Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act. Its stated goal is to set penalties when someone commits an offence under that Act and causes or contributes to an accident that causes death or serious bodily harm. The bill would start on Royal Assent; the supplied material does not say whether it has become law.

  • On conviction, a person would face a fine of $2,000 to $50,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.
  • A court could also suspend the person’s driver’s licence or permit for up to five years; suspension would be optional.
  • The trigger is an offence under the Highway Traffic Act connected to an accident causing death or serious bodily harm. The bill does not name particular offences.

What it means for you#

  • Drivers: If you are convicted of an offence under the Act and caused or contributed to an accident that caused death or serious bodily harm, the new penalties would apply. The bill does not make every accident involving an offence subject to these penalties; a conviction is required.
  • People with a driver’s licence or permit: A suspension of up to five years could be added to the fine or imprisonment.
  • Other road users: The bill does not directly change road-use rules, create a new service, or provide compensation to people harmed in an accident.

Money#

No cost information is provided in the available material.

  • The bill sets a fine range, but does not estimate how many fines might be imposed or how much money they might raise.
  • It does not provide an estimate of added court, corrections, or administrative costs.

What is unclear#

  • “Serious bodily harm” is not defined in the supplied bill text.
  • The bill does not specify how much a person must contribute to causing an accident to meet the test.
  • The supplied material does not identify which existing offences could trigger these penalties.
  • The Highway Traffic Act itself was not supplied, so the current penalties and how the new penalties would interact with them could not be verified. No publicly available information.

Case for#

  • A possible argument for the bill is that a contravention connected to death or serious bodily harm should carry consequences beyond the usual penalty for the underlying offence.
  • The fine, possible imprisonment, and possible licence suspension give courts several ways to respond to the seriousness of the outcome.
  • Including cases where a person contributes to causing an accident could address situations where that person was not the only cause.

Case against#

  • The bill does not define “serious bodily harm” or explain the required level of contribution, leaving important parts of the trigger unclear.
  • The penalties could apply to any offence under the Act that meets the trigger; the bill does not limit them to named or especially serious underlying offences.
  • The bill does not explain how these penalties would interact with existing penalties, which could make the overall consequences difficult to assess.